Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin Photo: VCG

China firmly opposes the US’ generalization of the concept of national security and its abuse of state power inunreasonably suppressing Chinese firms, and will take necessary measures to protect its own legitimate rights and interests,a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in response to reports of new US sanctions on Chinese tech firms. 

US lawmakers have introduced a bill that aims to restrict Chinese tech companies such as Huawei Technologies from accessing US banks, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, the bill seeks to "severely sanction" Huawei and other "untrustworthy" Chinese 5G producers that they say engage in economic espionage against the US.

The bill will add these Chinese entities to the US Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals List, which prohibits American companies or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with those listed and freezes assets held in the US.

Commenting on the reported US move, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that the US’ destruction of international rules will backfire on itself, and will eventually lift a stone to smash its own feet. 

“China will firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” Wang vowed.

Chinese experts also noted that the latest US bill was another US attempt to suppress Chinese tech companies, as the bill will make it impossible for a company to complete transactions in US dollars.

“US moves targeting Chinese tech firms in sectors such as chips and 5G are against the spirit of free competition. It can be said that the US has lost all its bottom lines in fields like the economy, technology and the law, in order to suppress China by any means necessary,” Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute of the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In 2019, under former US president Donald Trump, the US government considered banning Huawei from the financial system as part of US sanctions to curb the development of China’s 5G technology, but the plan was ultimately shelved.

Dong added that if the bill is approved by the Biden administration, it may curb the development and services of the US telecommunications industry, as well as increase its operational costs, as Huawei and other Chinese 5G companies lead in terms of communication equipment and 5G technology.


Global Times